Ugh, so happy this is finished ...

I'm pleased with the final piece, but this beaded bookmark was the project from hell!  Now I remember why I got rid of the bead loom I used to own. I ended up crafting my own makeshift loom from a piece of cardboard and a photo storage box. It worked, but it was a pain to use!

My original plan was to buy a new bead loom - after all, they are only $5-$6. And with a 40% off coupon, it's definitely worth it. Alas, as hard as I looked in every Michaels, Jo-Ann's and Hobby Lobby, a bead loom was not to be found. Then, as I shopped at Hobby Lobby last night for work, I finally stumbled across a frakkin' bead loom - two days after finishing this wretched project! The icing on the cake? The loom came with pre-sorted beads and perfectly-sized needles.

Why are the beads and needles the so-called icing? Because I cheaped out and purchased the value bag of mixed colored seed beads for $3.99. After many hours sorting the beads, I began stringing. Why are the bead so cheap? The sizes aren't uniform, and the needle I was using didn't fit through the holes of  many of the beads. Ugh.

So, after many hours - many more hours than I anticipated - here's the finished bookmark:

And, here's the obligatory shot of the bookmark in use:

And, here's a picture of the craft fail after dear husband pulled on one of the big beads:

*sigh*

And finally, here's the Craftster post.